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Friday, February 8, 2013

From GregB: 15mm WWII German Trucks (24 points)

From Greg:

As a wargamer, I am always trying to put my German WW2 troops in halftracks, but I think the reality is that the half tracks - even though thousands were built - were always in short supply, and if a trooper was in a Panzer Grenadier or Panzer division, it was much more likely he would be travelling in a truck or soft skin vehicle as opposed to riding to glory/futility in a Hanomag - if he got to ride at all. I think most German soldiers walked, just like the foot-sloggers in all armies. It is the lot of the infantryman!

These are Battlefront models - two Opel Blitz trucks, and two SUV-style trucks that I think are known as Kf70s (?). The models are resin, cast in one piece, with base attached. The decals are Battlefront as well - very useful. I particularly like the look of the Kf70 (although I have no idea if they were actually common vehicles). It looks a lot like the SUVs I see idling in the drive through line at Starbucks. More German consumer vehicle foreshadowing...

Again, these should not be too common in a tactical gaming situations, but "wheels are better than heels" when it comes to being a foot slogger. These trucks would carry the MG teams, mortars and even the Panzer Grenadiers themselves to their next hotspot, so they are OK for a game, and are also useful for Spearhead games. Can also be nice objective pieces, targets for air strikes etc.

I painted the Kf70s in later period yellow and left the Opel Blitz trucks in the early war dark grey.

Phew - 900 points out of the way, and setting my sights on 1000!

It's really good to see these 'garden variety' vehicles as they played such a substantial role in Germany's military machine. The next step in this progression would be to do a few stands of the largest mobile element in Germany's army of WWII: the common horse.

IIRC, most Panzergrenadier divisions only received enough half-tracks to equip 1 or maybe 2 of their battalions. I think even at their peak, the Grossdeutschland only had enough to equip a full regiment and 1 battalion of the other. So, most panzergrenadiers would have been on foot or truck-mounted.